e, sir; while if two or three of
'em was bowled over it might hold 'em back a bit and give us more time.
Come quick, sir, if you please; I believe they'm gettin' ready for a
rush!"

There was sound sense in what the boatswain said: he was not a good
enough shot, or quite cool enough in the handling of firearms, to stop a
rush, and I therefore determined to act on his suggestion. Only
Cunningham was quite as good a shot as myself, if not better; therefore
I turned to him.

"Cunningham," said I, "you hear what Murdock says; and he is right. But
you are the crack shot of the party, so please go up and relieve him at
once. But before he comes down get him to bring up every gun from
below, and our entire stock of cartridges, and make him load every
weapon and place it handy for you. Go at once, please; and remember you
must shoot to kill."

"But, my dear chap--" began Cunningham, and then I cut him short.

"Go at once, sir," I exclaimed sharply. "This is no time for arguing;
and please remember that I command here."

"Right you are, old chap; I understand," he replied, and went without
further ado. And, as he turned to leave, another spear came whizzing
through the air and stuck in the sand exactly where he had been standing
a second earlier. Matters were beginning to look serious, for if the
savages had among them--as they certainly had--men capable of hurling a
spear from the top of the cliff as far as the schooner, one or the other
of us might be hurt or even killed at any moment.

A couple of minutes passed, and I heard the voices of Cunningham and
Murdock as they talked together overhead, showing that the engineer had
taken up his post. Simpson and I were holding a piece of timber in
position, while Parsons secured it, when I suddenly saw a tall savage
step boldly out from among the bushes on top of the cliff, poising a
long spear in his hand. He gave the weapon a preliminary jerk, as
though to test its balance, and then flung it high above his head in the
act of casting. I was about to shout to Cunningham, calling his
attention to the fellow, when a gun cracked sharply out overhead, and
the savage spun round upon his heel, staggered backward, and fell
crashing in among the bushes.

"Good shot!" I shouted. "I say, Cunningham, keep Murdock up there with
you to reload; we can do very well without him down here."

"All right," came the answer; "I will, if you are sure that you don't
need him. Ah, by